Wind, rain and mud were the order of the day for the latest round of fixtures in the West London Vets’ League. Despite the best efforts of the British weather, 14 games did nonetheless take place and, as ever, there was action aplenty.
Rams extend their lead
Two of the Premier League pace-setters certainly got into goal-scoring mood. Top-of-the-table West London Rams (WLR) won 6-0 at Whippet Wanderers, Paul Jones and Wade McKay grabbing a brace apiece. That win sees the Rams extend their lead at the top to three points.
It’s now Ascot United who are second. The Yellas went two down at home to Bank of England on Friday night, but an Ian Davies-inspired goal blitz – Davies helped himself to five – soon saw Ascot grab back control of the game. Further strikes from Carl Withers (2), Jon Bennett and Mikey Lewis saw Ascot ultimately canter home.
With Croxley Green taking three points from a no contest against Wandsworth Borough that leaves both top and bottom looking interesting. In terms of the relegation scrap, Bank of England (2pts), KPR (3pts) and Wandsworth (4pts) are all well and truly in the mix. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all pans out.
No coupon-busters in Div 1
There were four games in Division One and they all went pretty much to form.
Actonians travelled to Poly and came home convincing winners (7-1). They remain four points ahead of Latimer Road. Latimer also put in an impressive performance; they beat Nottsborough 7-0.
Army Crusaders remain the third (and final) side in the promotion hunt. Two early Ali Beard goals set them on their way against poor old Civil Service. Lee Fox then made it 3-0 before Civils began to get their act together and pulled one back. That, however, was as good as it got for the division’s bottom side. Ryan Ford, Carl Kelly and Craig Lilley bagged three more for the Crusaders as they eased home.
The final game in the division saw Ascot United 2s travel to Acton Ealing Whistlers. The Whistlers have also had a bit of a grim time of it in 2024-25 and they, like Civils, are looking down the barrel of relegation. Ascot duly took advantage. Adam Fennell scored a couple, and seven others managed to join him on the scoresheet. That included Steve Hill (Junior) scoring his first goal in yellow colours.
The fallout from all that means that much is as it was. Actonians top, Latimer and Army on their coattails; Acton and Civils have two points between them at the bottom.
Congestion ahead in Div 2
Division two has an altogether different feel to it. Ruislip Rangers continue to set a searing pace. They won 5-1 at Jamrock on Saturday and are now an astonishing 12 points clear.
Clapham remain second and that although they didn’t play. Old Meads are third, and that even though they suffered a defeat at the weekend. Old Lyonians are going through the gears; they are up to fourth after beating Meads. Andy Roan fired in a free kick to set Lyonians on their way, whilst a couple of headers from Craig Beccan put them in control of things. Meads, to their credit, did come back strongly, and Lyonians ultimately needed a Ben Pierre winner to see them home.
The final game in the division was at Thames Ditton. The hosts might have expected to beat a Laleham side that was in the relegation zone at the start of play. Football is nonetheless there to surprise us. Laleham won 1-0 and moved up to sixth. All four of the sides that aren’t in the promotion or relegation places are on 10 points! Talk about congested…..
Surprises in store in Div 3
Division Three provided some head-scratching results at the weekend.
League leaders Claygate Royals Hounds, for example, might have expected to win at seventh placed AFC Hampton. Nope. The hosts pulled off a shock and won 3-2.
Bank of England are chasing that second promotion spot and they too may well have thought that a trip to Lighthouse Molesey would end with them bring three points back to Roehampton. Again, nope. Lighthouse dug in and held the Bank to a 2-2 draw, Paul Mitchell and Charles Asher grabbing the goals for the visitors.
The final game in the division was between MMB and Putney Vale Rangers. MMB ultimately came through in what at times was a bit of a bad-tempered affair. Goals by Jonny Richards, Dan Biss and Andrew Larch saw the Milkmen to a 3-1 win and up into second place in the table.
Two Division Three sides were also in Vase action. Double H welcomed Croxley Green 2s in the QF. And, Croxley came impressively to the party; they won 5-1 and progress to the semi-finals.
Looking ahead
The coming weekend sees nine games involving WLVL sides on the agenda. Those games take place across a range of competitions, too
West London Rams and Actonians continue to fly the flag for the league in the County Cup. The Rams host London East FC Vets whilst Actonians are off to West Wickham. Good luck to both of our sides there.
There’s one game in the Prem on Saturday. KPR will be looking to pull themselves out of the relegation zone when they host Ascot United on the 3G at King’s House. The Yellas, meanwhile, will go level with the Rams at the top if they win.
There’s also a catch-up game in Division One. West Kensington Kings have got 11 games to play before the end of April. So, looks like they’ll be busy over the coming weeks. They welcome Polytechnic on Saturday.
In Division Two Lyonians will be looking to stop the juggernaut that is Ruislip Rangers. If Lyonians win they then go second in the table. If Ruislip win then they go 15 points clear. Indeed, should that happen then they will be just one win away from mathematically securing promotion …. and all that by early February!
Putney Vale Rangers remain rooted to the bottom of Division Three but they will be hoping to at least put in a decent performance against third placed Bank of England IIs. The sides meet at Barn Elms on Saturday.
This coming weekend also sees another round of Supervets’ fixtures; Ascot United have had an impressive start to their Supervets existence. They’ve won seven league games from seven. They’ll be trying to make it eight from eight on Friday night when they welcome Cheam Sports to the Racecourse.
Claygate are level on points with Croxley in second. Croxley aren’t playing this week, but Claygate welcome Chelsea in what looks like it might well be an interesting encounter. The final Supervets’ match of the weekend sees Stonehouse hit the road and travel to Nottsborough.
Go well everyone!